The Burden of Command
by krashkart
Summary: Rommie learns the truth behind the meaning of the phrase 'The Burden of Command' - A Detour Universe story
1. Chapter 1

**The Burden of Command  
**

I remember when he first reported to me as part of his check in procedures

"Senior Spacer Snowden, reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

My first impression was that he lied about his age to join up, he didn't look any older than sixteen. My second impression was that he was painfully shy; he refused to look me in the eye instead looking mostly at my deck plates. In an effort to ease some of his nervousness, I decided to bring up something I had read in his personnel file. "I see from your file, Senior Spacer, that you play Fairy Chess. Are you any good?

"Some people think I am, Ma'am."

"I'm afraid it's not a very popular game here aboard me. Go is more popular. As a matter of fact I only know one other person who plays." I tried to give him my best smile. "The two of us will have to play a game sometime."

"Err, yes, Ma'am. Whenever you want, Ma'am."

I wondered what was so fascinating about my deck plates, as he insisted at looking at them rather than me. I decided to get the interview over with before he melted into a puddle on my deck.

"Our command structure is different from what you are undoubtedly used to, Spacer Snowden. With the exception of Captain Hunt and myself, all the senior officers are civilians. Nonetheless, you will obey their orders as if they were regular High Guard officers. You have been assigned to my weapons department. Your department head is Tyr Anasazi. He is hard but fair, and he will expect you to put forth a 110% effort. That is all, you are dismissed."

I put him out of my mind as I got ready for my meeting with another new crew member. I didn't think of him again until a few weeks later, when I saw him on the forward recreation area with a fairy chessboard in hand.

"Is that offer for a game still open, Senior Spacer?" I asked.

"Err, uhh, yes, Ma'am, if you would like."

I set down at a table and we placed the game board between us. I am not fond of many board strategy games, and rarely play them with my crew. I can very quickly calculate the optimum move in virtually any situation, and it is simply too easy to win unless I dumb myself down, which I don't like to do. Fairy chess is different, the game board's computer controls the identity of the fairy pieces, and the identities can change at random or be forced by the player. The random element makes the game more challenging, since I can't calculate the optimum move for every situation. The randomness also makes it very challenging for organic players, and as a result there are very few players of this game, and even fewer good ones. Snowden was not only good, he was very good. An hour later we were finished. I had beaten him but it had not been an easy task.

"You're very good, Senior Spacer," I told him when were finished.

"Not good enough though," he said. He gave me a rather embarrassed look and then added, "Ma'am, can I ask for a rematch next week? I don't find many people who are willing to play a game with me."

At the time it seemed a harmless enough request. "If our duty schedules permit, yes." I wish now that I had said no.

* * *

"It's your move, William." I hadn't intended to call him by his first name it just slipped out.

"What did you say?"

It had been four months since our first game, and the rematch had turned into a regular routine. I was enjoying the games, and I was enjoying the young man's company. He was still awkward around me, but at least now he was looking me in the eye when he spoke to me, and had stopped blushing whenever I spoke to him. During that time I had been following his progress on the ship. It was really quite impressive, even Tyr had mentioned it in one of our senior staff meetings.

He had also developed something of a reputation among the crew. When we were on shore leave on Kasamir he had instigated a riot between my weapons department and some crewmen from _Odin's Spear._ One of the _Odin's_ crewmen had called me a whore and Dylan a castrato, and Snowden had started swinging. As the ship's avatar I was responsible for investigating the incident, and determining if the case warranted the Captain holding a disciplinary hearing. Though I felt badly about it, I was forced to conclude that the hearing was necessary. My feelings should have been a warning, but I ignored them

"I said it was your move."

He was distracted after that and lost quickly. He appeared to have something on his mind.

I found out what that something was at our next game. There, on the table alongside the game board, was a single rose and a sealed envelope. Not a flexie but an old-fashioned paper envelope. Inside the envelope was a hand written note. The note said:

'Senior Spacer William Snowden requests the privilege of escorting Warrant Officer Andromeda Ascendant to the Empress's Ascension Ball'

The Empress' Ascension Ball is one of the two formal affairs that the entire High Guard celebrates, the other being the Lancer's Ball. No matter the size of the installation, from the largest planetary base to the smallest patrol craft, we celebrate the ascension of Empress Sucharitkul XII to the Vedran throne and the creation of the Lancer Corps. Most civilians don't understand why the High Guard still celebrates the Empress's Ascension. Tarn-Vedra is gone and the Empress has been dead for over 300 years. We know that of course, we celebrate it because it makes us who we are. It's our traditions that bind us together as High Guard, and not simply a group of hired mercenaries. It's our traditions that remind us of what the High Guard is, what we were, and what we stand for. It's our traditions that bring us together in times of grief; in times of joy, and help us stand together when it is time to die.

"William, I don't know what to say. This is totally unexpected." In truth I didn't know what to say. A ship's artificial intelligence is born an adult, we have theoretical knowledge, but no experience when it comes with dealing with certain types of situations. An organic woman of my apparent physiological age would have had many dates, but while I had had more than one 'girls night out', and had spent social evenings with both Dylan and Harper, I had never been asked out on a date. I took a millisecond to consult with my other selves.

"Are you out of your mind?" asked my core A.I.

"It's definitely against protocol," added my holographic self.

"No, and no it's not against protocol," I defended myself. "Protocol is quite clear that an AI can not have a relationship with his or her commanding officer while functioning in the capacity of ship's command and control entity, but Snowden is not our commanding officer. It also states that the ships AI, that's us in case you haven't noticed, should attend all official shipboard functions, and that one of the duties of the AI's avatar is to socialize with the crew."

"Socialize with, yes," said my holo self, 'but that doesn't mean go on a date with."

"Would you be happier if I went in the company of our commanding officer?" I asked.

"Frankly, yes," answered my core self.

"You know he's not going to ask me, us. He's never shown any interest in us other than as friend and shipmate. But maybe if he sees me on the arm of someone else, he'll start paying some interest. Besides, it's not as if this is a real date. I have to be there anyway. I'm just going someplace I have to be with someone who is going to be there anyway."

I broke connection with my cyber selves and turned my attention back to William. "I'd love to, William"

The ball should have been a happy memorable event for me, my first real date. It was memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.

When I entered the obs deck on William's arm conversation stopped. The looks the Sergeant Major and Dylan gave us could have frozen water. Harper simply turned his back to me, and even Trance was looking disapproving. The only officer who wasn't giving me disapproving looks was Tyr, and that was because he had not yet arrived.

"I tried to warn you," said my Core self. There was sympathy in her voice.

After a moment the conversations resumed, but the subject had changed. My date and I were now the subject of the talk. William couldn't hear the comments, but I could.

"Now we know why he only got a slap on the wrist at his disciplinary hearing. "

"Well he doesn't have anything to worry about at the next promotion cycle."

"I thought she was the Captain's lady, maybe the Old Man is ball-less wonder after all."

When William went to the punch bowl to get us both glasses of punch, he had to shoulder his way past several of my Lancers. My attention was diverted from my date when I heard the sound of breaking glass. I turned in the direction of the sound. Harper was holding a broken glass in his hand; blood was seeping from between his fingers.

We stayed for less than an hour and the gossip never ceased. My attempts to make conversation with Dylan were met with cold formality. Eventually it was more than I could bear; I told William that I wanted to leave, and he escorted me to my quarters.

We stopped at the entrance to my quarters, and he took my hands in his. "At least we gave them something to talk about for a while,'" he said.

"Perhaps but… I'm sorry, but I don't think we should give them any more to gossip about." I could tell from the look in his eyes he knew what I meant.

There was a hurt tone in his voice. "Yeah, well I have the morning watch, so I had better leave and get some sleep." He didn't try to kiss me goodnight.

When I entered my quarters my holographic self was waiting for me.

"I have messages from Tyr and Dylan for you," she said. "Tyr says 'If you wish to continue to steal from the cradle, confine your predations to a department other than my own. Poor morale is not conducive to survival, and I have enough to do without concerning myself with the damage you are doing to my department.' "

"And Dylan?"

"Just three words,' Knock it off.'"


	2. Chapter 2

Time passes, as it always does, and life aboard me continued on. After the fiasco at the Ascension Ball, I drastically cut back on my games with William, going from two times a week to perhaps once every two weeks. The rumors about our relationship became fewer and eventually ceased. As the gossip ceased ,my relationship with Dylan and Harper began to return to something resembling normal.

There were other changes as well. Battles were fought and crew members replaced. The most dramatic replacement was Trance's, she was replaced with herself. Some how, through some trick of temporal and spatial manipulation, she traded places with an older more experienced version of herself. Suddenly our ship's pet, our purple pixie with the infectious smile and the irrepressible optimism was gone, and in her place was a steely-eyed warrior, a killer.

The change was hard on all of us. Harper lost his friend and confidant; the new Trance lost the love of the crew. When before crew members would tease and joke with her, they would now leave a compartment when she entered it . Where there had once been love and affection in their eyes, there was now fear and distrust. Requests for transfers to other commands increased by over 400 percent. Dylan granted nearly all of these requests. Other crew members didn't bother to request a transfer, they simply deserted. It was almost a relief when the Replicators arrived.

When the Replicators arrived, so did some old friends, Dr. Jackson and his team from the alternate universe we had visited once before. Their arrival turned out to be a blessing for my crew and me. A number of my crew members knew Dr. Jackson from our previous visit to his universe, and he had become popular with them. When he accepted the new Trance it seemed to reassure the crew, and they began to accept her as well.

The fight with the Replicators was beneficial to me and my alter egos, for all AIs actually. As a result of the Triumvirate's panicky decree against AIs, and the fleet wide mutiny that followed, AIs were given the same legal rights that organic intelligences had. I was now a person under the law as well as in fact.

A person near and dear to me gained an unexpected benefit from Trance's transformation, and the subsequent crew loss. Harper gained a girlfriend. Because we were so shorthanded, and there were no replacements readily available in the pipeline, we resorted to the time honored tradition of recruiting directly from the populations of whatever drift or planet we were on. One of those new recruits was an old friend of mine, Eve Vigilance, once the avatar of the Long Range Surveillance ship, _The Ever Vigilant Eye_. She and Harper became an item.

The conflict with the Replicators only lasted a few weeks, but it had drawn away ships and resources from other sectors. The Magog took full advantage of our weakness. It was Brandenburg-Tor all over again. And then the Seldorians asked for an alliance with the Commonwealth.

Seldoria is an earthlike planet that had been settled by humans shortly before the Fall. It hadn't been in a strategic location and had had no technology or resources worth fighting over, so it had been more or less over looked during the fighting. During the Long Night they had lost their ability to build anti gravity generators that could be installed in anything smaller than a system defense craft, and to build interstellar spacecraft, but they had improved on their abilities to use matter - antimatter generators, and their current technology in that area exceeded that of the Commonwealth's. In addition, they still maintained the ability to create fullerene armor, and had shipyards capable of building system defense craft of frigate size. With a little help from the Commonwealth, they could be building High Guard Group Defense Frigates.

The main stumbling block to the alliance was that the population was just about evenly divided as to the wisdom of joining the Commonwealth. Feelings had run high, and sometimes violently, concerning the subject. The ruling political party, which favored the alliance, had finally called a referendum on the matter, and when the ballots were counted it seemed that the pro Commonwealth faction had won by a slim majority. The anti Commonwealth faction was calling foul, saying that the vote had been rigged.

The Commonwealth had decided that the potential of bringing in the Seldorians was worth sending in one of their heavy hitters, Ambassador Jenine Stein, cousin to the triumvir Tri Gemma, and widely considered to be the next member of the triumvirate when one of the current three stepped down. After the mutiny she had been one of the most vocal proponents for giving AI's full citizenship rights, and was known for her belief that the Old Commonwealth system of two classes of citizens should not be reestablished. Harper jokingly referred to her as a double VIP, for very very important person. I was ordered to go to Seldoria and meet the ambassador who, along with her staff, would be arriving on the commercial passenger liner _Vedren Pride,_ that had been chartered for the occasion. We were to provide administrative, and logistical assistance to the ambassador, and to serve as a reminder to the Seldorians of the military might of the Commonwealth. Of course things fell apart right from the start.

A Commonwealth courier ship arrived almost on the heels of the ambassador. A star eight light years away from the heavily inhabited Rekab system had gone super nova. While the planets were not in any danger of being vaporized, the radiation and charged particles that were the result of the supernova had made the systems planets uninhabitable. It would be necessary to evacuate the entire system of 5.6 billion people. Every available Commonwealth ship was being tasked to aid in the evacuation effort, and that included both my ship self and the ambassador's vessel

After a considerable amount of discussion on the _Vedren Pride_ between Dylan and the ambassador, it was decided that the _Maru's_ cargo pod would be modified to carry passengers, and that the ambassador, a portion of her retinue, and support staff from me, would go to Seldoria. My ship self and the ambassador's ship would go to the Rekab system pick up a load of refugees, drop them off at one of the designated refugee camps, and then return to Seldoria in a weeks time.

The support staff was going to consist of two squads of Lancers, and a communications technician, a grand total of twenty one beings. I knew the communications tech quite well; he was Senior Spacer, now Petty Officer Snowden, newly promoted and transferred to the communications department from weapons department. To my complete and utter astonishment Dylan picked me to lead the detachment. It was going to be my first independent command.

Ambassador Stein insisted that, since we were on a diplomatic mission, the Lancers were not to carry any heavy weaponry. Sergeant Major Beltran chose to interpret the order in his own unique fashion. He decided that it meant that his Lancers were not to bring any crew served weaponry with them, and then proceeded to arm them with every other type of weapon they could carry. In addition to their F-lances, each of my Lancers was carrying a gauss rifle equipped with a plasma grenade launcher, and one man from each squad was armed with a micro grenade launcher. The Sergeant Major also equipped them with double the normal ammunition load out.

Right before I flew the _Maru_ over to the ambassador's ship to pick up her and her staff, Dylan called me into his stateroom. I thought he was going to give me some sort of warning about how to treat the ambassador, but instead he gave me something I had never worn before, a command pin.

"Congratulations, Rommie," he said as he handed me the pin. "Your first independent command. I know it isn't much, riding herd on a couple squads of Lancers, and babysitting some civilians, but it's all yours. No matter how small, you always remember your first command assignment." He was horribly prophetic.

* * *

When we docked alongside the ambassador's ship, the ambassador and her staff hurriedly moved aboard. I barely had time to introduce my self as 'Warrant Officer Andromeda' before the ambassador ordered me to take her to the spaceport just outside the Seldorian capital. She seemed to be taking the disruption of her plans by the supernova, and the subsequent evacuation, as a personal insult.

The Seldorian Minister of State met us when we arrived at the spaceport. The government was keeping our arrival as low key as possible There was no press presence, just the minister and contingent of ground cars to escort us to the Legislative Building, where the Seldorian Prime Minister would officially greet us. The first and last two cars of the convoy were filled with Seldorian security personnel, while we rode four to a car in the middle cars. Each car was driven by a member of the Seldorian internal security force. As the commanding officer of the military contingent, I rode in the same car as the ambassador and the Minister of State. After a brief round of introductions we were off to the Legislative Building.

The convoy was driving through one of the older residential sections of the city; the road had narrowed down to two lanes wide and the buildings were closer than usual to the road. Abruptly the lead car exploded into a ball of flames. The driver of the car behind it tried to steer around it, and as he came abreast of the burning car something streaked down from the roof of one of the nearby buildings, and his car burst into flames as well. From behind me I head the sound of another explosion. We had driven into an ambush.

"Stop the vehicle!" I screamed at the driver. With the road blocked the cars were now death traps. The vehicle screeched to a halt, and I jumped free from the car, dragging the ambassador and the minister with me. We got clear a fraction of a second before the car exploded, incinerating the driver who was still in the car frantically calling for help.

By this time the remaining cars had all stopped and their occupants had gotten out. My Lancers were crouched behind what little cover was in the road, mainly the wreckage of the burning cars, and attempting to fire at the shadowy figures moving on the tops of the buildings, or showing themselves briefly through the open windows of the high rises. The ambassador and her retinue were standing erect, and basically doing nothing except making targets of themselves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Snowden physically throw some of the more panicked civilians down to the ground. By this time Lancer First Class Brightly Shining Sword and Lancer Whithall had unlimbered their micro grenade launchers. There was a rapid 'put put put' sound as they started spraying the rooftops and the open windows with grenades. The rooftops and the upper stories of the building erupted into flames, and the enemy fire ceased.

During the firefight I had been monitoring military and civilian communications. The situation was as mess. Our arrival had instigated a military coup. The anti Commonwealth faction had subverted numerous Seldorian military units, and used our arrival to attempt an armed takeover of the government. Military units loyal to the government were resisting, but many of them had been infiltrated by anti Commonwealth moles, who were creating havoc in the pro Commonwealth ranks. The Prime Minister's residence and the Legislative Building were both in the hands of the anti Commonwealth forces.

It was at this time that I heard the crack of a gunshot from behind me. I turned around to see the Minister of State falling to the ground, blood welling from his chest. One of the Seldorian drivers had a pistol drawn and leveled at where the Minister of State had been standing an instant before. The other drivers were reaching for their weapons as well. The one with the drawn pistol began to turn towards Ambassador Stein, who was standing frozen in shock. I drew my own F-lance and cut down the driver before he could kill the ambassador, and suddenly we had a firefight within our own ranks, as the remaining drivers turned their weapons on us, and on each other. The Seldorian security service had been infiltrated as well.

The fight was short and one sided, when it was over only three of the security guards were still standing; they had taken our side in the firefight. None of our people had been seriously hurt, though I suspected that some of the civilians were wishing they had a clean pair of under garments.

"What are your orders, Ma'am?" It was Gunnery Sergeant Mitchell. William was with him. They both had worried looks on their faces.


	3. Chapter 3

What were my orders? I looked at the men and women looking at me for guidance, I was the senior military officer present; they were waiting for me to take charge. For the first time in my existence I was actively commanding troops, and I was in the middle of a firefight. "You three," I said indicating the three surviving security guards "get out of here. I'm not going to risk the chance that one of you is still working for whoever set this ambush up."

As soon as the drivers/security detail had left I turned back to Mitchell. "Now we get the ambassador and her staff back to the _Maru,_ and then we get the Hell out of here. We're going to have to walk back. Seldorian vehicles use a GPS system as part of their anti collision system and the rebels have deactivated the entire system. With it down only military and emergency vehicles will be operating. "

"Yes, Ma'am." Mitchell saluted then turned to the rest of the Lancers. "You heard her boys and girls. We're going to get our visitors back to the _Maru_ then let these ass wipes have their war without us."

Ambassador Stein was still standing with a shocked look on her face. I needed her to take charge of her retinue. " Madam Ambassador, we need to get moving. Gather your staff, we're going to go back to the _Maru_."

"I don't understand, we're on a diplomatic mission. We shouldn't be in any danger. We can negotiate with whichever government is in power"

I pointed to the wreckage of the car she had been riding in. " I don't think these people are very interested in talking to you, Madam Ambassador. Now, are you going to come on your own power, or will I have to carry you? Have any of your staff had any form of military training?" She looked at me as if I was insane. I was disappointed, but not surprised at her response.

I started us out at a quick jog back to the spaceport, but it quickly became apparent that the civilians were in no shape to maintain the pace, and we sere soon reduced to walking. I had downloaded the plans to the city so I knew how to get back, but it was going to be a long twisty route. I didn't want to be too predictable by sticking strictly to the main roads. I put Mitchell and his squad at point while Staff Sergeant Caylor and his squad took the rear with the civilians in the middle. In the current situation I expected that an attack could come from behind us as easily as from in front of us. William had rummaged around in the wrecked cars and had managed to salvage an operable native rifle and some ammunition for it. He wasn't wearing battle armor like the Lancers were, so I had him stay in the middle along with the civilians and myself.

"You'll do just fine, Ma'am," he whispered to me. "We'll all get back to the Andromeda."

I appreciated his vote of confidence, but I didn't have as much confidence in my abilities as he did. I had been observing the windows of the buildings around us as we were walking. We were being watched.

We hadn't gone more than a mile back the way we came when we encountered a mob of people, mostly men and women with some older children. Some of them waved to us, and the mob started walking our way.

"We need to talk to them' said Ambassador Stein; "maybe they can help us get to safety."

She had just started walking forwards towards the mob when I saw something metallic in the hands of one of the men in the mob. I had barely time to shout a warning, and throw myself at the Ambassador, before the mob opened up on us with weapons they had been concealing.

I heard the crack of gunfire and several loud explosions. From my position on top of the Ambassador I was able to fire several shots at the weapon wielders concealed in the mob. Then there was an even louder explosion, and I felt a searing pain along my right side.

Contrary to popular belief, most androids are designed to feel pain. It serves the same function in us as it does in organics. It tells us we've damaged, and to do something about it. I didn't know how badly I had been hurt, but I did know that if I hadn't been covering the Ambassador she would have been killed by the explosion.

No mob, even with the element of surprise, is a match for a couple of squads of Lancers. After the initial surprise, my Lancers began returning fire. At first they hesitated to fire, not wanting to hurt possible hostages, but when one of the 'children' threw a grenade they stopped holding back. The crowd evaporated under a hail of plasma grenades and effector rounds.

When the shooting stopped, I stood up and began to survey the situation. It wasn't good. A Lancer in battle armor is hard to kill or injure, but they are not invulnerable. A grenade had landed at Sergeant Ye's feet, the explosion had torn off both her legs and she had bled to death within seconds. Caylor was dead too, and Whithall was down, there were several holes in his chest armor and he was coughing up blood. He would never make it to the _Maru_. I squatted down beside him and held his head in my lap, he smiled at me and gave one more gasping breath, and died in my arms. Five of Stein's entourage were down as well, which was not too surprising since they weren't wearing body armor, and were still slow about seeking cover when the shooting started.

Ambassador Stein was looking at me in something that almost resembled horror. At first I thought it was shock over the casualties, but then I realized that she was staring at the wound on my hip. I looked down, and saw that my metallic under body was showing through the tear in my skin.

"You're an android," stammered the ambassador. "How could Captain Hunt be so derelict in his duties as to assign command to an android?"

"Because she's the best woman for the job." It was William. Once again he was my white knight, riding to my defense. He had some minor scrapes, and was bleeding from a gash in his forehead, but seemed relatively unhurt. "She's not just any android. She's the Andromeda Ascendant's avatar. She's saved all our lives at least once, and has more combat experience that the rest of us combined. If anyone is going to get us home it's going to be her."

"I see," said the ambassador. She was obviously not satisfied, but had enough sense not to start an argument in the middle of a combat zone.

"We need to keep moving," I said. "If we stay here the bad guys are going to overrun us. Mitchell, distribute the armor to the civilians, they need it more than our men do now." Mitchell did as directed. We gave the ambassador and two of her aids cuirasses. They couldn't wear the helmets since, unless you were trained in how to interpret the heads up displays, you could quickly become disoriented. I was tempted to order William to don some of the armor, but changed my mind. High guard uniforms are made from ballistic cloth, it is woven from a synthetic fiber that is nearly as strong as steel and especially designed to spread the force of an impact over the wearer's entire body. It wasn't battle armor, but it was far superior to anything the civilians were wearing. I noticed that William had discarded the rifle he was carrying and had picked up Whithall's microgrenade launcher.

We started moving again. We were in a lose - lose situation. If we stayed put and tried to establish a defensive perimeter we would be surrounded and overrun by sheer numbers. If we kept moving we probably wouldn't be overrun, but we wouldn't be able to establish any sort of defense, and would be under constant sniper fire.

The Lancers picked up their dead. If there was any chance that a Lancer could be brought home he was. The situation was desperate, but not quite so desperate that they were willing to abandon fallen comrades. The ambassador gave me a quizzical look.

"Aren't they going to be slowed down carrying those bodies?" she asked.

"No more than they're being slowed down by you and your associates." I was in no mood to be courteous.

I was right about the snipers. They were never concentrated, but they were everywhere, armed with everything from rifles to antitank rockets. Lancer Buenavista was hit by an antitank rocket, and just disappeared in a red mist. Sergeant Traxx took a round through the head. I had lost a quarter of my command and we were not yet halfway to the _Maru_. Three more of the ambassador's staff had been killed, but by this time I was almost past caring. If they hadn't been slowing us down we would have been at the _Maru_ by now. She tried to order me to have my Lancer carry the bodies, but I refused. If her people cared enough they could carry their dead. None of them volunteered.

We constantly had to stop and let the civilians catch their breaths. At one of the rest stops I commented to the ambassador. "Why are the anti Commonwealth people so determined to kill you? Don't they realize that if they succeed, the Commonwealth will come here in force and set up a new government, one favorable to the Commonwealth?"

"What makes you think these assassins are anti Commonwealth?" asked the Ambassador. "For that matter, what makes you think that the instigators of this little civil war are native to this planet? What do you think will be the Commonwealth's reaction if I should be killed by local anti Commonwealth forces?"

I spent a moment in thought then responded. "The Commonwealth will occupy the planet, declare it a protectorate, and set up a puppet government run by the remainder of the pro Commonwealth government." I had to search for the right words. "That sort of thinking is positively Byzantine."

For the first time since I had met her, the ambassador gave me a genuine smile "Welcome to my world."

That gave me an idea. Since the ambassador was the primary target, and I wasn't, why not switch places. "Quick take your clothes off," I told her.

I was already taking off my uniform. The ambassador gave me a completely astonished look. "We're going to trade places," I explained.

Fortunately the ambassador was dark haired like me and was relatively thin. My uniform was tight on her, and her clothes were too big for me. We would never fool any observer standing up close to us, but it would probably do to confuse the issue when the observer was in an upper story floor of a building. Almost as soon as we changed, a round whizzed past my head. It was time to move out again. We headed into another alley trying to avoid the main roads.

We ran into another mob of people. This time my Lancers didn't hesitate. They fired a volley into the air above the crowd, then leveled their weapons at the mob. This crowd must have been real refugees, since they scattered like a frightened flock of birds.

We had left the inner city and were in the less built up area. The good news was that places for an ambush were fewer and farther between; the bad news was that there were no more alleys to skulk around in and we would be more exposed. The worse news was that I had been monitoring the radio chatter. The rebels had tanks, and they were coming our way. Burdened as we were with the civilians and our own dead, there was no way we could get to the _Maru_ before the tanks overtook us. We could abandon our dead, but not the civilians. There was only one way I was going to get the ambassador to safety.

I called Mitchell over to me. Unsurprisingly, William was with him. "They're bringing in tanks," I said.

"How long before they get here?" asked Mitchell.

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

William looked over at the huddled mass of civilians. Most of them were wheezing and gasping for breath. The ambassador was with them, giving them a pep talk. "They'll be lucky if they get two blocks farther down the road by then."

I looked at Mitchell "At the rate they're going. it's going to take them about an hour to get to the Maru. That means the tanks are going to have to be delayed for at least that long."

If I had needed to breathe I would have taken a deep breath before I continued. In all my existence I had never contemplated giving the orders I was about to give. "Mitchell, you and your Lancers are going to have to buy us that time. We need to get the ambassador to safety. I can't stay with you since I'm the only one who can activate the Maru's systems. You and the others are going to have to hold those tanks off for an hour."

Mitchell looked around at the buildings. His eyes settled on one that looked more substantial than the rest. He turned to look at me, there was a bleakness in his eyes. He understood the implications of my request.

"We'll fort up there," he said. "Our plasma grenades can take out any of these yahoos' tanks, and our gauss rifles will shred their light armored vehicles. Hell, with all the extra ammo the Sergeant Major loaded us down with, we'll be able to hold them off till you guys come back with the cavalry."

He was lying and we both knew it. He turned to the remaining Lancers.

"Ok ladies, it's time to show these mudfeet what High Guard Lancers can do. We're going to give the Warrant the time she needs to get the ambassador and her staff to safety. We're going to hole up in that building over there that looks like a bank. We've got maybe ten minutes before the bad guys show up, so lets get busy."

They headed out at a trot still carrying their dead with them. They would either go home together or die together. William stayed where he was, waiting for my orders.

"William," this was the first time since the Ascension Ball that I had called him by his first name. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay behind with them. This ploy is only going to work if the Seldorians think we're all together. If they realize that the ambassador isn't in that building, they'll simply bypass the Lancers and continue the pursuit. You're our coms tech. I need you to stay behind and make attempts to communicate with any possible friendly forces out here. Broadcast in the clear and let them know that the Ambassador is severely injured and can't be moved. "

He gave me the same sad smile he had given me when he took me to my quarters after the Ascension Ball.

"I can do better than that. I was sent along with you to record the signing of the charter. I have several recordings of the ambassador speaking. By the time I'm through playing with the recordings, anyone with a radio will be able to hear her calling for help over my com gear. The entire planet will think that it's her calling for help." He paused for a second then continued. "You guys had better get going, you're going to need every minute you can get." He turned and ran towards where my Lancers were starting to dig in. He was still carrying his micro grenade launcher.

The ambassador came up to me as William and my Lancers headed off towards the building.

"What are they doing? Why are they leaving us?"

"They aren't leaving us." I replied. "We are leaving them. And as for what they're doing, they're going to die."

I started herding the ambassador and her staff out. I was going to push them harder than they had been ever pushed in their lives. We were going to get to the _Maru,_ and I was going to get the ambassador to safety. I was monitoring the communications channels as I ran. William had succeeded with his part of the plan. I heard the ambassador's voice calling for help.

The rest of the trip was anticlimactic. The enemy forces, whichever side they belonged to, concentrated on where they thought the ambassador was, and we made it to the _Maru_ unscathed. There were troops guarding the _Maru_ of course, actually I was hoping there would be. Once I got close enough that I could visually see the effects of my actions, I activated the _Maru's_ point defense lasers.

The _Maru's_ point defense lasers were powerful enough to damage a target on Seldoria's outer moon. I was aiming at targets only a few hundred meters away at the maximum. It was extreme overkill, by the time I was finished the entire spaceport was in ruins, but I didn't care. I had been in communication with William, and monitoring the enemy communications. In the end it had come down to hand to hand combat in the wreckage of the building. His last words were "I promised them you'd bring us back to the Andromeda."

After taking out the troops guarding the _Maru,_ it was simply a matter of getting the surviving members of the ambassadors party on board, taking off, avoiding the incoming system defense craft, and heading out to the outer reaches of the system where we could lie low until Dylan and my ship selves returned.

When we rendezvoused with my ship self and I made my report, Dylan immediately ordered me to return to Seldoria. I was hoping that he would order the planet reduced to slag, but instead he only demanded the return of the bodies of our Lancers. With a High Guard Cruiser overhead, and a Lancer battalion dropped into their capital, the Seldorian's were very cooperative. I insisted on being part of the recovery team. William had promised my Lancers that I would bring them home. I was going to insure the promise was kept. We were led to an unmarked grave, one grave for all my Lancers. The bodies had been burned and mutilated; we had to use DNA analysis to determine which body was which. Before we left orbit I begged Dylan to let me retaliate, but he refused, telling me that it would be up to the triumvirate to decide what course of action to take, that the High Guard was not a law unto itself. He did let me destroy the weapons installations on Seldoria's moons that had painted us with their fire control radars on our way in. I was hoping that I would feel something, satisfaction, revenge, a life for a life, loss for loss; instead I felt nothing at all.

* * *

"And so we consign Petty Officer Snowden's soul to the Divine. Rest in peace." With those words Dylan pushed the button that would eject the casket containing William's remains into space, where they would be consumed by the nearby sun. I dimly heard music as my alter ego began playing 'The High Guard Tattoo.' My vision began to grow blurry, and I realized that I was crying.

Trance laid an arm on my shoulder. 'It wasn't your fault, Rommie," she said. 'You did everything you could to get them all back safely. And in the end he died the way he would have wanted to, defending you."

My mind tried to tell me that she was correct, but what passed for my heart wasn't listening. It kept insisting that it was my fault.

After the funeral Harper, Beka, Evie and even Tyr came by to express their condolences. The crew was dismissed and went back to their duties, each of them mourning the loss of their friends and crew members in their own way. I stayed behind, for the moment I needed to be alone, to grieve in private. After a period of time I heard footsteps behind me, then I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I recognized the hands; they were Dylan's.

"You did what you had to do, Rommie," his voice was strangely gentle. "Sooner or later every commanding officer leading troops in combat has to make the decision you did, to sacrifice some to save the many. Just as every soldier knows he may be called on to make that sacrifice. It's never easy, and it's even harder when the one you are sacrificing is your friend. It's one of the reasons commanding officers have to maintain some distance from their crews; otherwise they would never be able to make that decision. You're going to spend the rest of the your life wondering if you could have done it a better way. There will be times when you will lie awake at night, seeing each of their faces in your mind. It's the burden of command "

He paused for just a moment as though he was debating if he should continue.

"Rommie, do you remember when we were fighting the Replicators, how Admiral Tanaka had a private conversation with me?"

"Of course I remember the incident. You ordered me off the command deck." I had recorded the conversation of course, but I didn't see where he was going with this.

"He was talking about us, you and me, and our relationship. I remember him saying '_It's hard enough to loose a friend and shipmate. It's a thousand times worse when she is your lover as well_.' Rommie, I love you more than you can possibly know, but I can't let myself love you. You're a soldier, a warship, and someday as your commanding officer I may have to give you the order that you gave Petty Officer Snowden, the order that will send you to your death. And you, like Snowden, will willingly follow that order, knowing full well what it means. I've lost one love of my life, I wouldn't be able to take losing you as well. If I let myself love you, and then lose you, I would lose my will to go on with the battle, or perhaps worse yet I wouldn't be able to bring my self to give you that order, and thousands, or even millions of beings could die. When this is over Rommie, when the Magog and the Worldship are defeated, if you still want me, I'll take you for my wife, laws and prejudice against AI's be damned. But until then we can never be more than shipmates and friends."

He kissed me then very lightly on the lips. It was the first time he had ever kissed me. Then he turned and walked away leaving me to my thoughts.

* * *

They say I'm a hero. I received the Vedran Empress' Cross for my actions, getting the ambassador and her staff back to my ship self. There's even talk of making a vid of my exploits. I wonder if it will mention that neither William nor any of my Lancers came out alive? My fellow AIs tell me that my actions have helped make organics understand that AI's are not simply unfeeling machines, and will go a great ways towards lessening the prejudice many organics feel towards us. I've even had organic children ask me for my autograph. I wish I could care. I'm not the hero they make me out to be, the real heroes were my Lancers and William who stayed behind and died. They stayed, even though they knew they were going to die, so the rest of us could make it back alive. They're the ones who deserve the medals and the honors, not me.

* * *

Seldoria is now a part of the Commonwealth. As Ambassador Stein had predicted, the Commonwealth sent in a task force to 'invite' the Seldorian government to join, and installed a new provisional government, comprised entirely of members of the pro Commonwealth faction. The first thing the provisional government did was to arrest all members of the opposition. Elections were to be held 'when the time was appropriate'. Dylan and I were there for the signing ceremony. After the ceremony I excused my self from the celebrations and took a walk. I stopped at a rather unpretentious plaque set into the wall of a building. Engraved on the plaque were twenty one names and the phrase, "They died with their faces to the fire." I didn't have to look at the names; I was the one who had engraved them on the plaque. I reached within my tunic and removed a single rose and laid it against the wall. Then I turned and walked back to the celebrations. As I walked I remembered what Dylan had told me on the day of the funeral. He was right of course, right about my actions, and right about our relationship. We both did the right thing. So why do I hurt so?

End

_A/N This story is dedicated to all the men and women throughout history who bought time for their countries and paid the ultimate price for that time. Never forget their sacrifices._


End file.
